


Break my trust to break my heart

by Cinder7storm4



Series: Trust is Worth More than Love to a Stilinski [5]
Category: Supernatural, Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Fluff and Smut, BAMF Pack, BAMF Stiles, Dead Claudia Stilinski, Demonic Possession, Derek Hale is Not a Failwolf, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Smut, F/F, F/M, Families of Choice, Family Bonding, Family Dynamics, Family Feels, Fear, Friendship, Gen, Heavy Angst, Hunters & Hunting, Hurt/Comfort, Lore - Freeform, Loss of Trust, M/M, Magical Claudia Stilinski, Magical Stiles Stilinski, Mates, Mates Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Most of the pack is parents, Multi, Next Generation, Nightmares, Nogitsune, Nogitsune Effects, Nogitsune Trauma, Original Character(s), Pack Bonding, Pack Dynamics, Pack Feels, Parents Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Possession, Protective Pack, Research, Running Away, Scott is a Good Friend, Sheriff Stilinski's Name is John, Stiles Stilinski is Part of the Hale Pack, Stiles Stilinski's Name is Mieczysław, Teenagers, Threats of Rape/Non-Con, True Mates, Trust Issues, Werewolf Mates, angst (of course), new pack members, pack is family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-12
Updated: 2020-01-23
Packaged: 2020-05-02 06:48:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19193848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cinder7storm4/pseuds/Cinder7storm4
Summary: Derek and Stiles are running one of the most formidable packs in North America and their friends & family are living in relative peace and prosperity. But an old threat has returned unbeknownst to them and it will threaten everything they've built, including their life with their daughter.





	1. An itch on the brain

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, y'all know I thrive off angst so, I've jumped forward to bring back the angst parade. I am planning to write a series about Stiles and Lydia heading off to college and the years in between, but I'm working on this piece first because I'm more excited about it. 
> 
> I do not own Teen Wolf or Supernatural.
> 
> In this first chapter, there are mentions of a character not being in control of her body meaning that anything she participates in she has not consented to.

It had started like an itch on her brain, something she couldn’t scratch, but she hadn’t paid it too much mind. If only she’d paid more attention she wouldn’t be here. 

Here being a club two towns over from Beacon Hills, because she had fought back against using the Jungle for this. Another drink was placed in front of her, the bartender obviously more interested in making money than screening for underage kids. “This one’s from the redhead down at the end,” he muttered turning away as the teen turned to look. 

The guy wasn’t a natural redhead, definitely box dye, but a redhead would make Artemis angry. 

She tossed back the drink, a vodka cran, not her taste, but it was free and it wasn’t like she was really making her own decisions at the moment. She set the glass down and made her way over to the man, neither of them pausing to talk for long before heading out onto the dancefloor. His hands, unwelcome, slid over her hips, gripping them tightly and he plastered himself to her back. They danced, which she could almost block out as it happened, but then he swept her hair to the side, aiming to start kissing her neck. She wanted to scream, cry, or throw up, maybe all three, but she couldn’t. 

Not even three minutes later she knew she was saved when the arms around her hips were forcibly separated from her body and she was shoved into the arms of another man, a real redhead who she knew well. “Hey, what the hell man!” The guy she’d been dancing with yanked himself away from the slight black man who’d pulled him away.

“She’s underage and a Sheriff’s kid, so walk away now.”

The guy’s eyes went wide and she wished she could laugh, but nothing about this situation was comical. He split and she found herself hustled out of the club, neither man saying anything although the tense set of their jaws told her all she needed to know. 

She followed them quietly to a black Camaro, and that’s when she knew how the night was going to end. 

Derek Hale leaned against his car, anger thrumming under his skin as he watched his daughter strut out of the club. He’d refrained from going in himself, knowing that he would act too instinctually and regret it. Teddy and Cary had volunteered to come with him and he was grateful that Cary took after his father, Vernon Boyd, because Teddy looked ready to punch through a wall. Not that he wouldn’t heal, but Derek was hoping the young man would grow out of that behaviour like his father, Jackson had. 

But neither of his betas concerned him at the moment.

“We’ll see you back home, Alpha” Cary told Derek once they made their way over, tugging Teddy after him.

“So, you’re not going to look at me?” Derek murmured as Cary’s truck pulled out of the parking lot, Teddy already ranting to his friend about the situation.

“Is it going to change the lecture you give me?” Jinx looked up, her eyes, so much like Stiles’ own, glinting with harsh sarcasm to match her devil may care attitude. 

“Get in the car.”

She paused, then followed his instructions. 

Derek took a deep breath then opened the driver’s side door and settled in for the drive home. The moment he was in the car he could smell it, the scent of another person, a man all over her. He just refrained from growling as he pulled out of the lot. 

“What the hell were you thinking?”

“About what?”

“Jadwiga do not test me tonight.”

“Oh no, full name,” she muttered.

Derek let out a growl of frustration at that, quickly surveying their surroundings and then pulled the car off the road and parked on the shoulder.

“Answer me, now.”

“What, I’m not allowed to have fun?”

“That’s not what this is...”

Jinx wanted to panic, but she couldn’t, it wouldn’t let her. 

Derek turned in his seat to look at her, watching Jinx stare out of the window, completely disinterested. 

“We’d never force you into anything, you know that right? The mate bond needs to be willingly accepted.”

Jinx felt herself hum in agreement, but she couldn’t turn to look at her dad, her Alpha.

“If you don’t want to be with Artemis you don’t have to,” Derek spoke quietly, but his voice remained firm, “But you cannot taunt her like this. I won’t have anyone in our pack willfully hurting another. Do you understand?”  
In his pack, that was the key that Jinx grabbed onto, she still had a chance to protect them. So she said, “Yes” using her own voice for the first time in awhile.

The crack in her voice must have garnered her some sympathy, because her dad reached out to squeeze her shoulder and she let him, despite the pain it caused her. It’s not like she was feeling it anywhere but her own head anyways, her body’s chemosignals wouldn’t change. Her dad drew back his hand and started up the car again. The rest of the ride took place in silence.


	2. She Hides it Well

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Artemis and Jinx talk. 
> 
> Derek and Stiles confront their daughter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Teen Wolf.

They finished the drive in silence, but Jinx didn’t immediately leave the car. She didn’t want to face Artemis, or maybe she did, if only it would mean breaking free from being trapped inside her own mind. But she’d dug her grave, and she was determined to not drag anyone else down into it.

“She’s over at the cottage. Go have a shower; your dad will want to talk to you,” Derek told her, frustration evident in his tone.

Jinx just nodded and finally exited the car, slamming the door behind her in a flair of defiance. She entered the house, head high, looking for all purposes as if she was proud of herself. Except all she was doing inside was screaming.

—  
Artemis knew her mother wanted her over at the cottage to keep her from bumping into Jinx, but she needed to know the teen was okay. Whether Jinx was set on breaking her heart and their fledging bond or not, Artemis cared too much about her to not check on her. 

Except her good intentions went right out the window when Jinx breezed up the staircase to her room smelling like another person. She hadn’t expected that. She thought the teen had just taken off, to get some space, but obviously space was only something she wanted from the pack.

Artemis felt a low growl build in her throat, causing Jinx to pause, watching the older wolf emerge from the shadows. For a moment something indescribable flickered over Jinx’s face but her scent never changed.

“Need something, Argent?”

Those three words drained Artemis’ anger, and just left her feeling empty. 

“J...” she tried to speak but didn’t know what to say. 

“It’s my life, Artemis; you don’t own me.” No matter how much Jinx wished that someone owned her, because anything would be better than being enslaved to this thing. 

Even as the wolf reached out for her human, perplexed at how calm Jinx’s scent still was, Jinx stepped back to neatly avoid any contact. “Have you ever thought that maybe I don’t want you to touch me?” This was true, to an extent, which is how Jinx had gotten this deep into things. Half-truths and borderline lies when employed skillfully didn’t cause werewolves concern. She didn’t want Artemis to touch her; the pain would be too much for her to deal with at the moment. 

It was at that moment that both her Dads made an appearance at the top of the stairs. “Artie,” Derek’s voice was soft but firm, “We asked you to stay at the cottage.” 

“And I should’ve,” Artemis murmured, hurt eyes flickering to her unrequited mate and then her Alpha. She didn’t spare Jinx another glance as she left, Derek following her to the door where Scott was waiting.

For the moment it was just Jinx and her Dad. She had a suspicion that the rest of the pack was at the cottage too. Moon, she was screwing up their dynamics big time, but somehow it wasn’t enough chaos or strife yet. 

-

Stiles was furious. Not only had he been worried sick about his daughter, but watching her treat a pack member with such blatant disrespect, and her potential mate at that, made his magic crackle. “I believe your Alpha gave you an order, didn’t he?” His voice was tight, but not indicative of the rest of his emotions yet.

“Yeah, I’ll take the shower,” Jinx said, while privately thinking that she’d need to shower with burning hot water and scrub herself raw to get the feeling of those hands off of her. 

“What the hell are you doing, Jinx?” Stiles asked, teeth gritted.

“Living my life.”

“Don’t give me that. You’re toying with her and upsetting the whole damn pack. What do you want? Attention? Because you’ve got it.”

Yes! Yes! She screamed inside her head, but her voice wasn’t her own. For months she had been hoping that her Dad, clever, intuitive, and schooled in the supernatural, would figure it out, but weeks and months passed with nothing. She was totally alone.

“Well, you’ve got our attention, Jadwiga. What do you want? You know this isn’t how a pack works! You know that this especially isn’t how we work.”

Sparks were meant to protect and nurture harmony, at any cost. Ironically, Jinx felt she was doing a pretty good job since the rest of the pack was certainly united these days.

“Well, I never asked for any of this!”

Those words hit Stiles, and Derek, who’d reappeared after seeing off Artemis, like a slap in the face. 

“I never asked to be a Spark or part of a pack or to have a mate!”

It was true, she’d obviously never asked for this, but she wouldn’t have wanted to change it for anything. It was part of the reason she hadn’t put herself down yet, because she’d hoped desperately that she could keep her pack intact. 

“What are you saying?” Derek’s voice was low, but his eyes were red, warning her now.

“That if I could, I wouldn’t be here right now and that me being part of this pack is the worst thing in my life!” It was all true. She wanted to be far away so that she couldn’t hurt the people she loved and her presence in the pack was currently a point of toxicity. The truth of her words didn’t keep the sting out of them. 

Derek had to keep breathing, slowly and deeply, to avoid trying to roar his daughter into submission to the pack that had raised her. Stiles’ hand on his arm was the only anchor keeping him grounded. 

Stiles on the other hand, was now crackling with more furious energy. 

“How dare you...” he hissed at his daughter, shocked at her outburst. It wasn’t so uncharacteristic anymore, but to outright dismiss the pack, like it was nothing, like family was nothing. He wouldn’t stand for it. 

“Go to your room. You’ll stay there, except for school until we see fit. You don’t want to be part of the pack, then see what happens when you can only be here” Stiles hoped increased proximity would produce quicker results. It had been the top option amongst the pack when he and Derek had sought their family’s advice. 

“Whatever,” Jinx practically snarled. Soon a locked door stood between the two men and their daughter. 

Derek pulled Stiles roughly into his arms, his wolf whining for pack connection in light of the fight. “I know it’s harsh...” murmured Derek as he pressed a kiss to Stiles’ forehead as his mate’s body shook slightly, coming down from the emotional high, “but we agreed. It has to be drastic because it has to work.”

“It has to work, Der. We can’t lose her.”

On the other side of her door, Jinx was doubled over, her repressed emotions running riot beneath her skin. She pushed, pushing him back for a moment, just a few moments as she crawled over to her computer to put the next phase of her plan in motion. With one click she was exhausted, and collapsing on the ground, she felt the darkness overwhelm her again.


	3. Trapped (in her head and the wallpaper)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things fall to pieces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Teen Wolf or Supernatural.

The next day found half of the pack in the Hale house eating breakfast, though conversation was quieter and less jovial than usual for a Friday morning. Allison had accompanied Artemis that day; the wolf had decided she wouldn’t hide away. Her brother, Toby, Jinx’s best friend had come with his sister in a show of solidarity. He was pissed at his friend.

But Jinx breezed through the kitchen, grabbing nothing but a coffee. She ducked away from various pack members and left, calling out that she would be home after school as per her parole restrictions. 

Two weeks later, not much had changed for the pack. While Jinx was following her punishment to the letter, nothing in her attitude was shifting and it was causing real tension amongst the younger pack member in particular. Their friend and packmate had essentially dumped them for another group of people at school and she never let people scent mark her. 

For Jinx though, everything had changed. It had led her to this and now she was anxiously waiting in the school office, trying to look innocent and praying that she could get what she needed before the end of day bell rang.

“Miss Stilinski-Hale?”

“Yes, Miss Brown?”

“I’ve got your paperwork here,” the lovely office lady said, passing over a large brown envelope.

“Your fathers must be proud,” Jinx remembered to nod and smile, “Well, the Sheriff doesn’t know yet — this is a surprise from Papa and me.” She made a shushing gesture with her finger and winked.

“I’ll keep your secret then, darling. Congratulations!”

“Thank you, Miss Brown.”

TW --- TW --- TW TW --- TW --- TW TW --- TW --- TW TW --- TW --- TW TW --- TW --- TW 

Jinx’s hands clawed at her sheets, panting as a scream tore from her throat. Shivering, she had never more grateful for her magic. It had been so tied with her dad’s originally that the new wards and charms she’d put on her room were well hidden, except if someone was looking, and right now no one was looking too closely at her. 

“They don’t care,” the voice was soft, soothing even, but it made Jinx whimper in fear. She didn’t want to see her but appear she did. Claudia Stilinski, beautiful, but then the sliver of moonlight hit her face and it twisted. She became nightmarish and the laugh the thing, Jinx wouldn’t, she couldn’t think of it as her grandmother even when it took her form.

Stupid.

Stupid girl.

She’d let the demon lure her into its trap with the face of the person she wished to know the most. She’d thought herself, clever or lucky, maybe both to be visited by her grandmother and in the beginning, it had been bliss. It had been time for just her, to learn and grow. By the time she’d realized how often she was lying and keeping secrets the shade of Claudia had started becoming harsher with her, culminating in a day when it shoved her against a tree, hands around her throat, choking her.

Jinx wasn’t sure why she hadn’t said anything that day, but she hadn’t and she simply fell further. 

No, that’s a lie. She knew why, because that day the nogitsune, she’d seen it’s outline then, had threatened her pack. She’d suffer a million times over to prevent them from suffering due to her mistakes. 

Which led her here, to fear, no, not fear, terror and pain as her constant companions. Her room would be doused in the chemo signals, but she’d trapped it in the wallpaper, somewhere they’d never look. 

“You’re lucky I’m letting you do this,” the nogitsune Claudia trailed her fingers over Jinx’s hair, smoothing it, almost lovingly, “I wouldn’t mind feeding on this chaos a little longer, but the guilt and strife leaving without a word will inflict upon you will be a satisfactory meal. The anger of the pack isn’t as delicious as your pain, Jadwiga.”

Jinx cringed at the perfect pronunciation of her name as it fell from the demon’s lips. Only her dads could say it correctly every time. 

The thing’s hand hadn’t stopped stroking her hair and she felt tears start to pool at the corners of her eyes. “Why don’t we check in on Artemis while I send you back to sleep?” The demon’s hands gripped her from behind, like they were hugging and Jinx’s tears began to fall in earnest. “Night night, little fox,” and even as she struggled she felt herself falling into the horrific dream space the nogitsune crafted that allowed her to view the ramifications of her actions.

TW --- TW --- TW TW --- TW --- TW TW --- TW --- TW TW --- TW --- TW TW --- TW --- TW 

Artemis was eating a quiet dinner with her mom who had driven up to visit at Stanford.  
“You didn’t have to come all this way you know,” Artemis told her mother, although she loved having pack in her apartment, it made it feel more like home, especially since… well, since Jinx had never set foot in the place. It wasn’t much of a home when her mate was elsewhere, “I’m okay.”

She wasn’t, but if she wanted to pretend she was she damn well could.

“Artie,” Allison began, but her daughter held up a hand, the image Jinx saw wavered the haunting chuckle of the nogitsune distracting her until she looked back and the image was steady again, “I’ll save you the lecture. You’re right. She isn’t worth the heartache. I’m going to ask Alpha to formally free me from my courting duties at Christmas, for all our sakes. I just can’t care anymore,” and Jinx’s head began to spin, the image dissolving just like her bond with her mate would. Artemis would be safe!

But only without her. 

“I’m the only one who cares about you now, little fox. The only one, just let me in a bit more,” Claudia’s voice was off, threatening rather than soothing, but despite the imminent threat to her life Jinx had to smile as the darkness seeped back over her, pulling her into another round of nightmares. Artemis would be safe once she was gone, she was sure of it.

TW --- TW --- TW TW --- TW --- TW TW --- TW --- TW TW --- TW --- TW TW --- TW --- TW 

*Of course, ^ that’s not what happened at all, because the nogitsune is a manipulative bastard. 

So, let’s see what actually happened:

Artemis was eating a quiet dinner with her mom who had driven up to visit at Stanford.  
“You didn’t have to come all this way you know,” Artemis told her mother, although she loved having pack in her apartment, it made it feel more like home, especially since… well, since Jinx had never set foot in the place. It wasn’t much of a home when her mate was elsewhere, “I’m okay.”

She wasn’t, but if she wanted to pretend she was she damn well could.

“Artie,” Allison began, but her daughter held up a hand, “I’ll save you the lecture. You’re right, at least in your own mind, but mom, she’s worth this, all of the heartache and indecision. That might make me stupid with love, but I love her despite it all. I’m going to continue my courting duties. I just can’t not care,” Allison smiled sadly at her daughter, but nodded in understanding. 

“She’s the one who you can’t breathe until you’re with,” Allison’s eyes misting a bit as she thought about her and Scott. 

“Yeah,” Artemis replied, “Mate bond be damned, she’s the one I want and until I get a formal rejection, in writing, as per tradition, return of courting gits and all, I will not give up on us.”

“You can’t deny that she has changed though, Artie.”

“I keep falling in love with her anyways,” the wolf admitted, “and not with the her of last year either. I still love this Jinx.”

“We’re always here, sweetheart.”

“I know and I’m grateful, because she’d driving me up the wall at this point.”

Both women laughed lightly, and when Artemis’ laughter turned to tears she just curled up with her mom, trusting her to keep them safe as the physical manifestation of her pain flowed down her face leave saltwater tracks behind.

TW --- TW --- TW TW --- TW --- TW TW --- TW --- TW TW --- TW --- TW TW --- TW --- TW 

House arrest had done nothing to improve Jinx’s attitude, so much so that her best friend, perhaps he was her former best friend, Toby McCall didn’t know at the moment, was grateful to find the house quiet after school on the last day of term for the year. 

His relief only lasted a few moments when he realized that an absent Jinx meant a missing Jinx, which meant a miserable pack. His anger built as he dialed the Sheriff’s station, waiting for Stiles to pick up his call.

“Toby? Is Jinx with you?” Stiles sounded a bit frantic when the call connected. 

“No, I was calling you because she isn’t home.”

“Someone from two counties over just dropped off the Jeep for me at the station. Her phone’s in it and neither Boyd nor Peter will tell me what it smells like, which means it’s bad.”

Toby’s anger started to morph into confusion and a tinge of panic. Jinx always made it easy to find her, like their reaction were trophies, but sending the Jeep back – that was something completely new. It made Toby uncomfortable.

“Anyone home?” A voice, Artemis’ called out as she and Teddy came through the front door having road tripped back from Stanford together.

“We’ll meet you at the station.” Toby had just hung up the phone and turned to his packmates when he felt a wrenching in his chest. He gasped, gritting his teeth as something burned within him, but he was more concerned with Artemis who had actually collapsed, growling, claws sliding out and eyes flashing, like she couldn’t control it. 

Then Derek was there, scooping up his injured beta, holding her close as she whined and growled through the pain. “What’s happening?”

“Mate bond strain,” gritted out Derek as he tried to offer as much comfort as possible to his beta, “it’s non-consensual which is why it’s hurting her.”

Finally, Artemis came back to herself, eyes closed as she got her breathing under control. “What do you mean non-consensual?” gritted out the beta as her claws slid back in with great effort. 

“Someone’s trying to break Jinx’s pack bonds,” Derek’s voice was dark, “Where is she?”

“Gone,” that was Boyd’s voice as he and Scott appeared in the doorway, the latter going immediately to his daughter, who clung to him tightly as if she might never let go. “Stiles is coming,” he told everyone, but Derek already knew, feeling his mate’s fury and panic as it neared the house. 

Allison was driving like a woman possessed, both of them having come to the same conclusion that Derek had about their recent chest pain. She had hardly stopped when Stiles launched himself out of the car tearing up past the pack in the foyer to his daughter’s room. He wouldn’t believe it unless he saw it. 

Her door was locked. He slammed against it, “Jinx! Jinx, open this damn door!” It didn’t budge. At a nod from Derek, after he tore his husband away for half a minute, was all Boyd needed to break down the door. 

The room was normal. Too normal. Stiles’ eyes flickered over everything, from the perfectly made bed to the bookshelf. It was too organized. Too tidy. Too superficial. 

“There’s nothing here,” Toby murmured, having entered in after Stiles.

“There has to be something,” growled Teddy, “Artie…?”

Everyone turned to look at Artemis who was looking at a framed photo of her and Jinx. “There’s a piece missing, from the glass,” the wolf’s eyes darted around the room to search for the missing piece of clear glass that might offer them some clarity. She reached out to take the photo from the wall and in her haste tore off some of the wallpaper. She barely kept from dropping the photo, the rest of the wolves making similar choking sounds to hers. 

“What is it?!” Stiles was on the edge of a panic attack. Instead of saying anything, Derek pulled him close and concentrated, pushing his sensory perceptions into his mate.   
Pain slammed into Stiles, and then terror crashed over him in waves. The only thing keeping him upright was Derek. “What, what the hell?” he gasped out.

“The wallpaper absorbed her emotions,” murmured Peter who’d arrived, Chris, John, and Melissa in tow. The beta’s eyes were unusually dead as he teetered in the doorway, “It can’t be though, it’s dead,” he whispered, his tone heart-wrenchingly sad.

“You know what caused this?” Derek asked.

It was like Peter hadn’t heard him, as his eyes traveled over the room, but not really seeing anything he walked to a wall and without hesitation slashed its paper with his claws. “Nogitsune,” growled Chris as his eyes met Peter’s, “But how?”

“That demon, the one that possessed Claudia?” Melissa interjected, “What does it have to do with Jinx?”

“Pairs,” whispered Stiles, “It comes in pairs, doesn’t it? But one didn’t want to share her power so it left, to lie in wait… in the nemeton? It wasn’t completely gone?”

His brain whirled through his conclusions wondering how on earth he’d never contemplated the reasons behind Jinx’s mood changes. She had been… still was… possessed! 

“Oh my god,” his legs couldn’t hold him up any longer and Derek just pulled him closer as the Alpha let out a low, mournful howl, echoed by the rest of his pack. 

TW --- TW --- TW TW --- TW --- TW TW --- TW --- TW TW --- TW --- TW TW --- TW --- TW 

Jinx had awoken to claws on her chest, her father’s red eyes gazing down at her, claws breaking the skin. She’d been foolish to think leaving Beacon Hills would get her more than one or two hours of sleep. It had only been twelve days, but without the distraction of the pack her strife, guilt, and sadness had to feed the nogitsune on its own. It was almost freeing, except for these wake up calls wherein the demon tortured her while wearing a packmate’s face. This was her punishment for preventing the fracturing of her pack bonds. Even if they couldn’t care for her, Jinx would protect them with her life. 

She closed her eyes and let the hateful words wash over her. She let the claws draw blood, thanking the moon and nature itself that she was suffering, not her pack.

TW --- TW --- TW TW --- TW --- TW TW --- TW --- TW TW --- TW --- TW TW --- TW --- TW 

The pack felt like it was in shambles. Everyone was in shock. Derek took two weeks off, and Stiles forced Allison to take at least a week. That didn’t stop her from coming into the Sheriff’s station every day and sitting with him. The deputies all knew that something had happened to Jinx, and what Stiles had come up with was as close to the truth as possible – that she’d been experiencing symptoms of the same disease that killed her grandmother and that out of fear of what that’d do to her family, she’d fled. An APB was out on her in official channels and in the hunting community, but no one had seen anything. Stiles’ murder board had been cleared for a map of the US upon which he was sticking pins in possible places his daughter would go. 

Cas and Dean were out looking as were Sam and Bobby.

Artemis had refused to take classes in the summer, only traveling back to Stanford for mandatory exams, and then she came home again. She ran the preserve religiously while her mind tortured her with the possibility of what Jinx might have been suffering right under her nose. The not knowing was worse she decided. 

She’d taken to sleeping in Jinx’s room, forcing herself to suffer just a modicum of what her mate had, and after half-heartedly trying to get her to leave members of the pack started to join her. Derek and Stiles were with her most nights, as was Toby, the rest of the pack rotated through at least four nights a week. 

A month went by with no news. Even their bonds had stayed muted, and try as she might, Artemis couldn’t even get a snapshot of her mate’s whereabouts. 

Until, one morning in early June the familiar rumble of an Impala rolled up the lane. 

Stiles rushed out to the porch, looking at Dean, both men were exhausted, but the latter nodded. “We’ve got a lead.”

Derek’s eyes flashed in relief as Stiles dared to hope. 

“She’s heading to the old Crowe house,” Bobby told the assembled pack after he and his boys had been fed and watered, “There’s only two reasons she’d go there…”

“Exorcism or suicide,” Stiles said the words Bobby obviously hadn’t wanted to say. 

Most of the pack growled at his words, “We won’t know which one is more likely until we see her,” Lydia stated, trying to calm everyone down although her voice shook, “How long until she gets there?” 

“A day, maybe less,” Sam told them.

“So, how are we supposed to…”

“Cas and I will take care of it. Everyone, go pack; we’re heading into a battle for Jinx and her mind. Pack accordingly,” Stiles rattled off his words, sending the rest of the pack off to prep, but he called Chris back. As Cas popped into Stiles’ workroom, the hunter and Spark stood face to face, “Pack a loaded gun, you know which one. If this goes the way I think it will… she’ll use my mom against you.”

“Stiles, I won’t… I can’t…”

“This is her worst nightmare Chris, if it comes down to it and she asks… it’ll be you, not me, not Derek, not Artemis, but you.” 

Chris nodded jerkily then left to join Peter.


	4. Trigger finger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Why are there no wards?” Cas spoke quietly, under a silencing charm as the rescue team from the pack appeared alongside him, looking up at the house. In addition to Cas, Dean, Sam, Stiles, Derek, Chris, Peter, John, Artemis, Allison, Lydia, and Erica had made the trip, the rest of the pack, Bobby included, were left at home to wait and be on guard, just in case this was all a trap. They were dealing with a fox demon after all; it was by nature a trickster. 
> 
> “It’s not expecting any interlopers,” muttered Stiles, a growl in his voice, “Everyone ready?” 
> 
> He felt the steadiness in their pack bonds and after another moment, Derek stepped up next to him and they strode forward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Teen Wolf or Supernatural

Peter watched Chris as he walked into their room as if in a trance, obviously unsettled by more than just the current situation. 

“Love, what is it?” 

Instead of answering, Chris went to his closet and re-emerged with something that Peter wished he didn’t recognize. 

“What? Chris?”

“Stiles is right, it might not be her anymore.” Chris flicked open the gun case, revealing the same damn gun he’d pointed at Claudia all those years ago. “There’s something to be said for nostalgia, no?” Chris’ voice cracked and Peter pulled him into a tight hug, hoping against hope that none of these precautions would be needed even though part of him feared it was already too late for anything else. Jinx had been under the grip of the nogitsune longer than Claudia had and while both were Sparks what were thee chances of them saving both of them? As he pulled Chris even closer Peter lamented that something so needlessly evil would befall his pack again. 

“Haven’t we suffered enough?” he asked, so quietly that his words were almost a silent prayer.

TW-TW-TW-TW

Jinx shouldn’t be alive. She wondered dully in the recesses of her mind, which the demon had long given up paying attention to because he’d already infected it all, whether it might just be preferable to die. Surely her human body wouldn’t be in any kind of shape to properly sustain life after its host had worn away at her for so long. 

She pulled into an overgrown drive, leaving the car she’d stolen and then, in a fit of some form of freedom she threw the keys off into the undergrowth. The demon took it as a sign of her resignation, which she guessed it was; her death no longer scared her. She hoisted the rucksack with her and began to fight her way through the undergrowth overwhelming the Old Crowe House. The inside was falling apart, old blood and who knew what else crusted and staining the floor, walls, and ceiling. There was a fine layer of dust everywhere, the smell of death clung to the place, and even though she couldn’t currently feel much of anything Jinx shivered in reaction to a cold that she anticipated existed in the room. 

“Well done, pet.” The voice in her mind was back, no longer humming inanely, but excited. “Now, let’s begin to set up, shall we?”

Jinx tried to see if her hands would resist, but they wouldn’t, so candles, herbs, and vials of different bloods began to gather beside her. She tried not to think of how she’d gotten the bloods – she tried and failed not to see the mermaid struggling beneath her hands as she cut way her scales or the centaur that had kicked out uselessly against her magic binding. The werewolf, the omega had been the worst, barely a pup and she had filled itself body with wolfsbane bullets. If Jinx were in her own mind her hands would be shaking, but they were steady. This was it, this was the night the demon would seek to fully consume her, for all its playing over the past half year, the nogitsune did have a plan, but it simply enjoyed playing with its food too much not to torture Jinx for, well, as long as it wished. 

The demon guided her to dip her fingers into the wolfsbane tinged blood of the omega and begin to draw the symbols required by the ritual. 

Nothing would stop it from enjoying its feast.

TW-TW-TW-TW

“Why are there no wards?” Cas spoke quietly, under a silencing charm as the rescue team from the pack appeared alongside him, looking up at the house. In addition to Cas, Dean, Sam, Stiles, Derek, Chris, Peter, John, Artemis, Allison, Lydia, and Erica had made the trip, the rest of the pack, Bobby included, were left at home to wait and be on guard, just in case this was all a trap. They were dealing with a fox demon after all; it was by nature a trickster. 

“It’s not expecting any interlopers,” muttered Stiles, a growl in his voice, “Everyone ready?” 

He felt the steadiness in their pack bonds and after another moment, Derek stepped up next to him and they strode forward. They split up seamlessly, some coming up from behind others walking right through the front door. 

Derek’s nose twitched as he and Stiles entered through a side window. Stiles raised his eyebrows, to which Derek focused on sharing his senses. The smell of dust and dampness was tinged with blood and other scents he thought were herbs although there were too many for him to identify. 

As they swept their section they came upon Sam and Dean, in what might have been a living room and nestled against an empty fireplace was “Jinx!” Derek and Stiles said her name at the same time and her eyes snapped up, watery and red as if she’d been crying. 

“Papa? Daddy?” her voice cracked, and they took a step forward, but then they hesitated.

Stiles kept his weapon stowed, as did Sam and Dean, but he wouldn’t move closer, not yet.  
“Sweetheart, we know what happened, but we need to check you, okay?”

His daughter nodded her head like a bobble-head figurine, and Dean swiftly tossed some holy water her way, nothing. Sam slid a silver coin, which she picked up, clutching it close. Only a few more tests, and every one made the rescuers more hopeful. Derek felt comfortable enough to whistle for the rest of the pack, who began to appear in the room. John, Chris, and Allison coming from the basement, while Erica, Artemis, and Peter descended from the top floor. Lydia was last, but upon setting foot in the living room her knees buckled and wards lit up the room. Lydia couldn’t see, she couldn’t see anyone, it was just darkness in front of her, but then a harsh chuckle slashed through the darkness, turning everyone’s attention back to the figure of Jinx, who was clearly not Jinx at that moment. 

“You should have seen your faces, so hopeful,” the demon was going to enjoy this, to cause her vessel one last round of intense pain and then it could feast. Oh yes. It forced Jinx’s body to curl, to stretch languidly as betrayal and anger flashed over the faces of the pack. It hadn’t anticipated the pack actually coming after her, even the girl hadn’t hoped for as much and so she told them. 

“You know she’s just as surprised to see you as I am,” she tutted as Peter tried to lunge at her but found himself facing a line of… “No, it’s not mountain ash. It’s werewolf blood, mix with wolfsbane, quite potent, no?” And the scent blocking spell surrounding the room lifted. “You’re all well placed to not move, and while that circle might not work on angels and humans if any of you cross me I’ll hurt her,” and the demon snapped Jinx’s pinky finger on her left hand. Allison made to move forward and it went to break another finger so the hunter stopped as the demon smiled, pleased. Then it giggled, “But truly, she’s shocked. Can you blame her though? After seven months of pleading I’d be shocked too, I guess” the demon inspected Jinx’s nails with disinterest. The gasps of pain and heartbreak at the casual reveal of how long this had been going on made it giggle. “Of course, that’s only how long I was actively possessing her, our relationship,” she fluttered Jinx’s eyelashes prompting growls from the wolves, the loudest from Derek and Artemis, “began before that. Oh, she was so sparkly and light,” the demon wandered over to Allison, “She just wanted to impress everyone, to make everyone proud, didn’t you?” the demon asked the air in front of her, a vicious smirk on Jinx’s face as the demon pitched its voice back to Jinx’s tone, “I bet if I could shoot bullseyes Ally would be proud of me!” Jinx’s eyes rolled, her attention snapped onto John, “I bet if learn how to make Daddy’s brownies, Grampa would love me more.” 

Another laugh, while the rest of the room got restless, John’s face having fallen at the demon’s words, twisted in anger. “Be quiet! Get out of here!”

“Oh, maybe you do know her,” the demon chuckled, taking another step toward John voice deeper and more threatening, before it sank back into Jinx’s tone, “Maybe Grampa would love me more if I didn’t look like Grandma Claudia,” the voice pitched in despair before it turned from the devasted form of John to look to Allison again, “Maybe Ally doesn’t think I’m good enough for Artemis, after all, I’m nothing really special. Maybe she’s just training me because I’m a liability and she doesn’t want the pack in danger.”

“That’s not true!” Allison yelled.  
“It’s true to her.” 

Jinx was screaming inside her body as first her grandfather then her godmother were taunted, none of her Dad’s spells or Cas’ power doing any good. Then she turned to see Chris in her peripheral vision, here was a chance, the ward wouldn’t do anything against a bullet. But the demon skipped over him, settling in front of her seething fathers, her Papa was growling and her Dad’s power crackled over his skin, but she’d woven magic older even than his spark. 

“Oh, isn’t this sweet, so protective now, aren’t we?” 

“Jinx!” That was Lydia’s voice, and Jinx could hear her, both in her ears and where she was locked away in her mind. 

“Shut up, banshee!” The demon stole the sound from Lydia’s vocal chords, eliciting fear from everyone. “Didn’t I mention, I’m older than Castiel over here,” she gestured, “Or your Spark, emissary,” she sneered at Stiles, “Silencing a banshee, well, that’s easy when you’re thousands of years old.”

While the demon prattled on in its own voice about its abilities, Jinx focused on making Lydia hear her, because even without her voice, if she could hear Lydia the banshee might be able to hear her. Except, the demon sensed her plan, somehow, maybe her desperation bled through and it shoved her back even further into the darkness. She kept swimming up anyways; she would break the surface somehow. 

“Now, now, Jinxy, settle down,” cooed the demon, eyes, so much like Stiles’ but without any emotion behind them met Derek’s, “She’s still feisty now and then, mainly if she thinks I’m going to hurt one of you. Don’t you want to know what that sounded like? She begged so pretty,” she turned stalking over to Artemis, stepping into the wolf’s personal space, letting her scent overwhelm the woman and Artemis had to keep herself from nuzzling into it. 

“Artemis could have anyone, why would she want me?” Jinx’s voice bled through courtesy of the demon, and then the demon voice was back, “She would do anything for you, including letting all sorts of people touch her, scent her, kiss her, to get you to leave her. She wanted to protect you, so she whored herself out, and while it all happened she screamed and cried.” Artemis and the rest of the room saw red, and the young wolf lunged at the demon who stepped back, letting the wolf hit the barrier.

Artemis felt her shift overwhelming her, fangs dropping, and growling low in her throat, a clear threat, but then a picture appeared in her mind, flashing through it then it was gone. A chess board, with pieces arranged --- her blazing golden eyes flickered over the room – just like this room. Jinx was still in there and she was fighting. The demon hadn’t noticed anything, too preoccupied with feeding on the strife and chaos, but Jinx could only hope that both Artemis and her Dad had received the image of the chess board painted with wards and symbols. She could only hope. 

The demon continued with her personalized torture; not every revelation was big but they all hit rather hard. It told Erica how Jinx felt isolated because out of everyone in the pack, she didn’t have an Erica-approved nickname, because as the wolf had said once “There’s no point in giving her one.” Or how she’d stopped wearing jeans and hoodies, because she didn’t deserve the comfort of them, and how Lydia paid more attention to her after she started dressing differently. How Peter obviously didn’t see her as a worthy successor to Claudia. How maybe if she was more useful, if she ran faster, shot better, or fixed cars then Sam, Dean, and Bobby would see her as valuable, but really the worst of it was yet to come as Jinx’s body faced Derek and Stiles again, having scoffed at Dean and Stiles’ earlier attempts at an exorcism. 

“Now, Daddy, aren’t you a little bit curious?” teased the demon as Stiles wished its death with his eyes, Jinx’s voice rose up making everyone else flinch again. Silent and not so silent tears were flowing across the room, as everyone continued to struggle, but they were tired. Stiles had caught Artemis’ eye at one point and thought he’d seen a flash of something, but then magic flared up, the image of a chess board matching this very room imprinting itself upon the backs of his eyelids. 

“Enough!” Chris, whose arms had been frozen to his sides earlier when the demon had passed him over had a gun raised and cocked.

“Dad… he’s going to shoot me, Dad, please.”

Stiles’ mind was racing. He’d known this might happen, hell, he’d told Chris to bring it, but to see it happen, here, now “Argent, put the gun down!” John yelled. 

“I’ve done it before, werewolves, witches, why not add a nogistune to the list?” 

“Daddy,” it sounded so much like Jinx that Stiles was about to yell too, joining the cacophony of noise stemming from everyone when two words rose about it all.

“Shoot me! Shoot me!”

Chris’ finger twitched off the trigger for a moment, because that was Jinx, the real Jinx. He saw her and suddenly, without his consent, Chris’ finger was back on the trigger and his hand fired the gun wildly, two shots flew. Both hit their target, one grazing Jinx’s head, the other lodging firmly in her left side, somewhere. Chris dropped the gun and as blood dripped to the ground and spread out, a bright, golden light filled the room, the old blue wards fading.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might play with this a bit more, but I'm content to post this atm.


	5. You'd kill me?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinx makes the ultimate sacrifice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Teen Wolf or Supernatural.

Peter, not stopping to think, ran toward the place where the mountain ash line used to be, only it was gone. He scented Jinx’s blood, tinged with wolfsbane, not from Chris’ bullets, but wherever it came from it neutralized the wolfsbane barrier. He rushed to where Jinx had fallen, everyone else following suit but a new barrier flared up between all of them and Jinx’s body. 

“It was her,” Chris gasped out, shock and terror overwhelming him, “It was Jinx, the real one.”

“Clever little bitch,” a deep voice sounded from inside the new barrier, “Too bad she’s dying, Argent.”

Erica growled as the barrier stopped obscuring it inhabitants, though it still glowed silver softly. Another Jinx stood in front of them smirking, eyes cold and somehow, Stiles knew Jinx had split it from her own body. It was a feat unheard of, but then again, a lot of impossible things became possible when lives and loved ones were at stake. 

Allison, Dean, Erica and Derek were hammering on the barrier, Lydia letting loose with a pointed shriek, her voice had been returned when the thing had been trapped, but it did nothing, Chris was on his knees staring at Jinx’s bleeding body while Stiles and Cas threw magic at the shield to no avail. The demon form of Jinx merely grinned at them, still confident in its potential for success despite this newest development. They had not been at their attempts long when Peter pushed forward, Sam at his side, and walked up to the barrier to draw the demon’s attention away from its sources of amusement. 

“This isn’t your doing, is it demon?” Peter growled, and the thing laughed.

“Does she get her cleverness from her uncle then, the one about whom she thinks she is not intelligent or interesting enough to hold his attention? No, it is not my doing.”

The demon’s words had captured the attention of the rest of the group, “Ah, you see now why I chose her, the power she holds is great, greater than anyone that I have seen before. I did well conquer her, when my brother went for the Spark. I bided my time in that tree stump, waiting, watching her destroy him, yes…” it nodded, still smiling, “I’ve been watching you all for a long time and yet, here we all are, waiting again.” It kicked out a foot that connected with Jinx’s body, the young woman still unmoving, although she was not yet dead, she was bleeding heavily. “I think she thought to entrap me, destroy me, and some such, but well, your presence cost her too much attention. Protecting you always comes at her expense,” it went on to pace the dome like structure that Jinx had created.

Jinx’s mind was like molasses, sticky, slow, and dark – but as her consciousness came back to her she realized one thing, it was quiet. Quiet like it had never been while that demon had infiltrated her body. She could feel her magic humming around her, the barrier had gone up, good, but that demon, that cursed thing was still talking, tormenting her pack. She wanted to jump to her feet and murder it where it stood, but she was weak and bleeding. She kept her heartrate and breathing low, listening, waiting for her chance to strike. 

While Erica continued to scratch at the barrier, eyes blinking back furious tears, Stiles decided to try to outmaneuver the trickster. “Then why didn’t you claim her as your vessel immediately, if she’s this powerful?”

“I wanted to play and feed. We feed on chaos and strife, but guilt and sadness are heady drugs too. Plus, I could not resist appearing as the one who put my brother to eternal damnation,” and the demon shifted, forming into a likeness of Claudia, except for the feral smirk on her face and the cold glint in its eyes. “She’s too weak now to keep herself safe now, but she’ll protect you until breath leaves her body” and the demon stepped over to Jinx, raising a foot, pressing on the teen’s throat. Lydia’s voice caught, a sign they all recognized as the banshee trying to repress a scream.

John slammed a desperate fist against the barrier, so this is how this demon had caught up his granddaughter in its schemes. At the point of impact, the barrier cracked, it didn’t split, but spiderweb cracks formed and the demon’s eyes flicked between Claudia’s whiskey brown and black. “Wh…?” Before Sam could finish forming his question the demon went from killing Jinx and laughing at them to having a knife held at her throat, by… “Jinx?” Artemis had been sure her mate was nearing death and as she watched she saw the teen’s hands shake, but the knife, its blade so dark red it looked almost black, stayed at the thing’s throat. 

“You’d kill me?” the Claudia-like thing asked, “It’ll kill you too,” its tone was almost kind. Jinx pressed her face into hair of the demon, as if taking comfort in the illusion. 

“I know,” she whispered and then she moved the knife, dragging it up through the demon stomach, from navel to throat and as she did so Jinx sunk her teeth into the flesh of its neck, she was after all a hybrid, one couldn’t be a fox and a wolf. “Divine move” she murmured as she felt the full pain of her own wounds return to her body as the nogitsune disintegrated, dying, leaving, her body no longer its shell.


	6. It's quiet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The pack awaits news about Jinx at the hospital.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Teen Wolf or Supernatural.

The next three minutes were a blur. The barrier shattered and Cas swooped Jinx up into his arms, disappearing into thin air with only the words “Beacon Hills Memorial”. The remaining pack members turned to the now disintegrated body of the nogitsune.

“We need to burn it,” murmured Chris and he took a step forward, mirrored by Stiles.

Derek put out a hand “Do it here.”

Stiles paused, looking his mate in the eyes, then he turned to Peter to find the other nodding slowly. “Do it. I want to see it destroyed.” Stiles only paused a moment, then he snapped his fingers, bright flames consuming the remnants hungrily. 

“We need to go,” Lydia’s voice was a croak as the flames burnt themselves out, “Now, Stiles.”  
Another brief moment of concentration brought them to the back door of the hospital, and they rushed in, Dr. Robinson meeting them halfway as they tore through the halls. “We’re treating her now,” she glanced at Lydia, eyebrows silently asking the banshee for a gauge on her patient, but Lydia would only shake her head, lips thin and tightly closed.

“Let me…” Derek, Artemis, Erica, and Peter all spoke at the same time, but Dr. Robinson shook her head.

“We’ve already had to remove Cas from the room, we can’t chance a pain drain until we know the full extent of her injuries. I need to go,” she left them standing, exhausted in waiting room and dashed away calling orders as she went. 

“Call the rest of the pack,” Allison murmured to her Sam, keeping one eye on her daughter who looked like she was going to tear after Dr. Robinson when Cas reappeared.

“Are we pack now?” Cas asked, voice a bit confused.

Derek nodded, distractedly, he’d meant to talk to them about it sooner, but it hadn’t come up.

Sam rubbed at his chest, where he felt a light flare briefly, a pack bond – he remembered Jinx describing them to him. He pulled out his phone, watching as Cas pulled Dean, who’d been standing frozen and unseeing, into a warm hug. 

They could only wait.

3 hours later:

John didn’t want to be here again. 

He hated hospitals.

He hated this hospital. It stole people from him.

6 hours later:

They told him they were done with the surgery, but they couldn’t see her. No matter what Derek or Stiles did; Robinson had called in a specialist and they were physically and magically barred from the room. The latter was a defense mechanism Robinson told them, a mechanism of his granddaughter’s own making. It only kept pack out. 

She was protecting herself from them.

When Dr. Robinson explained it to them in hushed tones that was when Stiles started to weep.

7 hours later:

“John, maybe you should go home…rest” 

Melissa’s voice was soft, to keep from disturbing the rest of the pack. Her touch was gentle. John couldn’t handle any of it.

He pushed himself out of his chair, away from Melissa, stalking as far away from her as the room would allow. 

Scott’s eyes snapped up from where he was trying to comfort Artemis as best he could. He opened his mouth when a scream ripped through the tension in the waiting room.

Nurses and doctors all ran toward the noise, Artemis slipped from her mother’s arms too. That was Jinx’s scream; she could feel it rattling in her bones. At the hospital room doorway, the furthest they could approach she watched as the body of the girl she loved writhed in pain, voice high and scratchy. She watched as they gave her an injection, and then another, but the noise didn’t stop. She couldn’t handle it.

Artemis sank to her knees and screamed too.

8 hours later:

Artemis blinked. She didn’t remember closing her eyes. 

“Artie?” her dad’s voice wobbled as he came into view.

“Dad? What happened?”

“You passed out. You… well, we don’t know exactly what happened.” Chris admitted, worry also evident on his face.

Artemis sat up suddenly, startling them all. “I feel fine, but J…” she paused, listening. 

“She stopped. When you started… she went unconscious. She’s sleeping now, kind of.” Chris continued, “Peter thinks, the bond might have something to do with it… death or near death can fuck with it.” Her grandfather swallowed heavily, eyes skittering away from hers and she remembered that he’d lost his mate to death once before. 

“I can still be here though? I can wait for her to wake up?” Artemis turned her eyes beseechingly to her alpha, who had appeared in the doorway. He walked over to her, brushing a soothing hand over her hair, scent-marking her, and reassuring her.

“Artemis, we don’t know how long…”  
“I’m staying, Alpha.”

“Alright,” he murmured, and then he pressed a kiss to her temple. Only then did she smell his tears, or maybe they were her own, her cheeks were wet.

“Let’s at least discharge you,” murmured Dean who’d followed Derek, but stayed at the doorway. Artemis nodded, sliding off the bed and reaching out to pull Chris into a tight hug that he returned with all his strength.

TW TW TW TW TW TW TW 

The next time Jinx made a sound was five days later and it was a whimper of pain or fear Artemis wasn’t sure. Maybe it was both.

She’d been curled up in a chair beside her mate’s bed, because even as her wolf urged her to cuddle up with Jinx, she didn’t deserve that type of affection, especially when Jinx was essentially unconscious. 

Stiles walked back into the room to see Artemis’s eyes trained on his daughter’s face, which wasn’t unusual but the look on the young wolf’s face was hopeful. “Artie?”

“Daddy…” the voice was barely a sound, but Stiles heard it, maybe it was his magic, but all he knew was that his daughter was awake.

“Jinxy?” He dashed to her bedside, hardly daring to believe it.

“S’okay, Dad. It’s quiet.” And her heartbeat slowed again, but Artemis could hear her draw steady breathes.

“She’s sleeping,” Artemis breathed out, unable to process it “She’s going to be okay.” Then she looked up at Stiles “When she said it’s quiet now, do you think she meant…”

“It possessed her, Artemis. It owned her mind, body, and soul. From her bedroom alone, we know it tortured her, we just don’t know to what extent yet.”

“She’ll need help,” Artemis said, slowly.

“And we’ll get it for her.” Stiles assured her.

“Will she take it?”

“I hope so.”


	7. Stay Put

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Artemis and Jinx are bonding? Plus trauma and pack love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Teen Wolf.

“I respect your medical opinion, Melissa, but I think you should take her home. If she wakes up there it’s true that there’s more potential for an immediate panic, but it’s better than an excessively drawn out process of re-adaptation.”

Melissa huffed, but eventually she nodded in agreement “I can understand that reasoning.”

“What will she need?” That was Derek, who was tense, watching Stiles pace as Dr. Robinson made his case for them taking Jinx home. “She hasn’t even woken up properly yet.”

“I think that’s why she hasn’t woken up yet,” Robinson told them, her mouth set in a grim line, “She doesn’t feel safe here. As for what she needs…”

“You have no idea, do you?” Stiles was the one to interject, pausing in his pacing to meet the doctor’s eyes. She nodded.

“Nogitsune survivors don’t exist. Not even your mother truly broke free from it, according to your story.”

“She’s not a test subject…”

“I understand that, Spark Stilinski. I do. I’m telling you that what I think is best for your daughter is for her to go home. There’s still time before her senior year. Give her time and space to heal, because she can’t do that in this hospital.”

Stiles turned to look at Derek. The two of them had a silent conversation then Stiles nodded, and Derek turned to the doctor, “We’ll take her home.”

“I’ll get you the paperwork.” Dr. Robinson paused on her way out of the room “She’ll need touch therapy; she has been touched starved. She’ll need her mate close by and all of you, especially her parents. Don’t let your guilt get in the way of her recovery.” She left to get the necessary paperwork, leaving Melissa, Derek, and Stiles in the room alone.

“That’s good advice,” Derek’s voice was rough, strained, and Melissa just hummed in agreement. The entire pack felt guilty. Their pack member had been possessed, tortured, and all they had done was get angry. 

“We’ll need to keep an eye on Artemis too,” murmured Stiles, “If we’re feeling like this, I can only imagine what she’s feeling right now.”

TW – TW – TW 

Artemis refused to put Jinx back in her old room. She actually growled at Derek and her father when the former suggested it. Toby, who was currently curled up near Jinx sleeping on the couch, would have rolled his eyes in any other situation, as would Jinx, he was sure. Except, his sister was seriously challenging their Alpha and he wasn’t sure what to do. 

“Artemis!” Allison’s voice was sharp, but it had little impact on her daughter, who just snarled at Derek, who was extremely calm given the situation. 

“You’re right, Artemis. You’re right,” Derek’s face wasn’t even shifted, a spark of something like relief in his eyes, “She’ll be safer with you.”

Allison’s forehead crinkled, but Scott let out a soft “Oh” as Artemis brought herself back, apology obvious in her body language. 

“What?” Melissa asked.

“She wouldn’t have offered otherwise,” Stiles murmured, quietly, going to lean against Derek.

“Alpha, I…”

“I know. It’s okay, pup. Just this once,” Derek sounded tired, but steady “But she needs you, don’t turn her away now.”

“I’d never…” Artemis seemed to choke on the words, then she swallowed “Not again.”

“We know.” 

“But I…”

“We all let her down, Artie. We need to pick up the ball again,” Toby murmured, “She needs us.”

Artemis nodded, making a move to the couch but then she paused “You don’t know that I’m who she wants.”

“No, we don’t.”

“I’ll be here as long as she needs me. However, that takes shape.”

She dropped a hand gently onto Jinx’s forehead, so light it was like a feather tickling the girl’s skin. 

TW – TW – TW

Jinx was warm and she didn’t know how that was possible, unless… her eyes shot open and she moved before she got her bearings.  
“Jinxy? What is it?”

That was Artemis. Sleep-rumpled, with dark circles under her eyes, but definitely her mate. What the hell? It was a trick. It had to be a trick. Too many time she’d fallen for this before, Jinx wouldn’t let it happen again. 

As Artemis moved toward her, hesitantly, Jinx shrank back unconsciously, trying to pull herself out of reach, but Artemis was too fast. Her fingertips brushed over the back of Jinx’s hand and the spark waited. She waited for the pain to strike and for Artemis’s concern to morph into a wicked grin, too sharp for love and tenderness. But it didn’t come, neither did another touch though. 

“Jinxy, look at me, please.”

When had she gotten down on the floor? Jinx couldn’t remember that. Her breath was coming fast now too.

“Jinx!”

The urgency in Artemis’s voice was lost on her though, but touch wasn’t. A hand, smooth, warm and soothing settled on her neck, grounding her, bringing her face forward so that her forehead touched Artemis’s. Eventually, the black in her vision began to fade away when she realized that they were still touching. Jinx flinched, but Artemis didn’t let go.

“You with me now, J?”

Jinx waited for the voice in her head to shatter this moment. But it wasn’t sounding.

“Why’s it quiet?” Jinx’s voice was panicked.

“It’s gone, Jinx. You did that.”

“What?” Jinx opened her eye. She hadn’t even realized she’d closed them when she started panicking.

“You’re safe.”

“What?” Jinx’s response was softer now, confused in tone.

Artemis watched her words sink in. She wasn’t ready to let go yet.

“If it’s gone, why are you here, with me?”

“J?” Artemis’s voice cracked. She’d heard the demon speak, but somehow she’d hoped it had all been bullshit. 

“I’m sorry…” Jinx pulled away, staggering to her feet when Artemis rose too, gently, but firmly crowding her mate against a wall.

“I’m the sorry one, J. I didn’t see it. None of us did.”

“Artemis…”

“Hush, I’m not done. You’re awake. You survived. I’m here because I want to be here. I’m here because I wouldn’t let anyone else look after you. I’m here for as long as you’ll let me be here.”

Artemis’s words were rushing through Jinx’s confused brain, but what was really throwing her off was the silence in her own brain. And the emotions, the tumultuous ones crashing over her like waves – a desire to protect, an undercurrent of desire, and an almost smothering love. 

“Those, those aren’t mine,” Jinx gasped out, knowing that Artemis would know what she was referring to, after all, the wolf had just pushed them into post-bonding without even realizing it. 

A slice of terror cut through Jinx, but it also wasn’t hers as Artemis let go of her as if she had been burned.

“Shit! Shit!” The wolf moved away, panicking, because she hadn’t meant to do that. She knew Jinx wanted a choice and she’d still done this!

“Artie?” The wolf forced herself to wrench herself from her panicked thoughts to look at Jinx again, “It’s okay. It’s new… I, I have enough… I can take care of it”

“What?”

“The bond, I can…” Jinx didn’t even want to say the word and to be honest, she wasn’t sure that this wasn’t a trick anymore, despite the absence of physical pain. Well, there’d be enough of that from a bond severance.

Jinx’s thoughts flickered through Artemis’s mind, leaving no doubt in her mind about what Jinx was offering.

“Is that what you want?”

“What?”

Artemis moved closer, Jinx’s body swaying closer unconsciously.

“Is our bond not what you want?”

“It’s not what you want.”

“Oh, really?” A charge of heat, anger and passion shot through Jinx, and as the weakened spark’s knees buckled, Artemis caught her. She buried her nose into Jinx’s hair, inhaling deeply. “It’s all I’ve ever wanted.” She pulled Jinx closer, the spark now on her lap and in her arms.

Jinx was overwhelmed with the touches. She couldn’t get enough. They weren’t hurting her. Her skin was hungry, and she whimpered softly in Artemis’s arms.

“Shh, sweetheart, I’m not going anywhere. You can let go.”

And Jinx began to sob.

TW - TW – TW

“So, you bonded?” There was a hint of gruffness in Derek’s voice, but Stiles counteracted it with a reminder of how Derek had pushed their own bond into formation in a similar, if less traumatic confrontation. 

“How’s she doing?” Stiles asked, stroking a hand over his daughter’s ankle, while Artemis stroked Jinx’s head as the young spark rested in her lap. 

“She cried herself into exhaustion. But I think she believed me about that 'thing', about her beating it.”

“So, what’s bothering you?” Derek prompted her, settling next to Stiles, lightly tickling his daughter’s toes, watching them curl up involuntarily.

“I’ve seen mild touch starvation, but this…” 

“We knew it would be bad,” Derek reminded her.

“But, it’s almost like it’s not about the lack of touch,” Artemis told him, “It was like she expected it to… to…”

“t..hurt” Jinx’s voice was an exhausted murmur as she slowly woke up, less panicked than earlier that day but she kept her eyes closed as she pushed her head up into Artemis’s hand for more pets. “Touch hurt. A lot.”

“What do you mean?” Derek tapped her foot.

“Touching…painful… more emotions…worse it got” were the only words they could make out as Jinx tried to hide in Artemis’s lap. 

“That’s why you wouldn’t let us scent you?” A rustle of fabric passed for a nod, as Jinx hid behind her hair. 

“But your scent?”

“Didn’t change… demon, remember?”

A fire of misery lit up inside of Derek as he remembered all of the times he’d just touched Jinx’s shoulder or hand over the past several months. 

“Missed the pack… sorry, Dad. Sorry, I didn’t protect it better. You didn’t have to bring me back…I’ll” she began to extricate herself from Artemis’s lap when “You’re not leaving.” Stiles interrupted her. “You’re not kicked out of the pack. You’re not going anywhere until you’re healthy and only then, if you want to go somewhere. You’re our daughter and we love you. And I’m pretty sure your newly bonded mate, would have something to say about a disappearing act too, so no.”

He moved then, to the head of the bed.

“You’re not going to believe me now and that’s fine, but we want you here, whether you believe me or not. So, stay put.” He brushed back some of her hair, “We’ll bring you some food.”

And he left, Derek in tow, leaving Artemis to talk to Jinx about where she belonged.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinx and Artemis begin to sort out their issues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Teen Wolf.
> 
> Please do not repost to another site.

The problem was that Artemis didn’t know where to start with her reassurance. All she really wanted to do was wrap her mate up in her arms and keep her there forever, but that wouldn’t help her heal. She had to try, for Jinx.

“You think loudly,” murmured Jinx, who had stayed firmly tucked against Artemis once her dad had gently pressed her back toward her mate. Jinx’s voice was hoarse, like it hadn’t been used in months.

“Your voice,” Artemis said, searching for words to construct a question, but she needn’t have worried, because Jinx caught on rather quickly. 

“It was weird,” Jinx coughed, clearing her throat “because it spoke through me, without using my voice, my real voice. I used to try, but it didn’t really matter after awhile,” she hummed “This is the most I’ve said in a long time, I think.” She coughed again, and Artemis tightened her arms around her mate automatically.  
“I’m okay, Artie. I’m okay,” the Spark soothed her mate, a cool hand slowly but surely settling on Artemis’s knee.

“You aren’t though, are you, Jinx?”

“I… might be… eventually.”

Artemis tilted her mate’s face up so that they could make eye contact, and Jinx slowly complied. Jinx knew her hesitancy at everything that was happening was clear in her eyes, but she didn’t want to deny Artemis anything right now. Her thoughts were a swirl of lingering discomfort and fear of the future, and for a moment she forgot that Artemis could sense her emotions again. But Artemis hadn’t forgotten, as the scent of placation and nerves permeated her senses she moved. Gently, she pulled her mate up, leaning Jinx against the headboard of Artemis’s own bed the wolf settled for sitting in front of her Spark, still keeping their hands intertwined. 

“Ar…”

“You can always say no to me.”

“What?” There was the croak of her mate’s voice again, why hadn’t she had someone bring up water beforehand?!

“I bonded us through trauma, I know, but that wasn’t how I planned for it to go. I want it; I will never not want you,” her eyes flashed as she spoke “but I need to know if you’re okay with me being here. You need to be able to say no to me, for this to go forward right now.”

As Jinx’s forehead creased in confusion, Artemis squeezed her hand and then reminded her mate “We’re bonded, remember? And even if we weren’t, I can scent your moods and emotions again. You looked at me to please me and I don’t want you to do that, ever…” Jinx’s confusion softened into understanding. 

“Artemis.” The wolf stopped, mid-rant, there was strength still in her mate’s tone “I’m…”

“Don’t you dare apologize,” Artemis began to speak again when Jinx’s lips thinned, giving way to her frustration, “Sorry, I interrupted you and I” Jinx shook her head and leaned forward, her hand pulling Artemis in too. Jinx pressed a kiss to Artemis’s forehead “Breathe. Listen to me,” Artemis nodded, thrown off and giddy with the affection “I’m here. I will try to be okay, but I can’t change overnight. I care about you. We’re bonded, of course I want to please you,” Artemis rumbled a bit at that statement, but Jinx kept talking “For months, all I wanted was for you to see, to take it away, to own me if that’s what it took.” 

Those words caused Artemis to jerk back from Jinx, shaking her head, their hands separated. 

“Jinx, I can’t”

“You’d never, I know,” Jinx’s voice was quiet “but what I’m trying to say is that was my life up until a few days ago. I need,” she seemed to hunt for the words to express herself before biting her lip, hard “I need to know that you’ll let me work through it how I need to while also respecting your own boundaries” Jinx’s eyes snapped up to pin Artemis in place, “You feel guilt; you’d do anything for me right now. I’m asking you not to, please.”

“Jinx, it isn’t the same thing,” Artemis tried to argue, but then she found herself with a lap full of her mate, Jinx’s head tucked into her neck. “What, what are you doing?” 

“If I told you I wanted this now, us” Jinx just breathed on her neck, making Artemis shiver, “would you do it?” It was the crack in Jinx’s voice that brought Artemis back to reality and she got what her mate was saying to her. Carefully, she moved her hands to cradle Jinx’s head, moving it away from her neck, scenting the saltwater of tears as she tilted Jinx’s head up. She kissed her mate’s cheeks, the tears salty on her lips. “I hear you, Jinxy. I do.” And Jinx, breathed out a shaky sigh of relief.

“Don’t thank me” Artemis murmured “You’re mine to care for; you’re our pack’s. You don’t need to thank us, ever.”

“But I will, because you helped save me.” Jinx’s voice cracked again, and she coughed. 

“Do you think you can brave downstairs for water,” Artemis asked, tentative about even proposing the idea, but after their conversation seconds ago she wasn’t about to insist she leave Jinx to get her water. Her mate needed to get back control over her own life and Artemis would be damned if she stood in the way of that quest.


End file.
